Slavery

Even before the folk of the world built cities or discovered the written word, slavery has been present in the world. According to elven legend, the Fae of the light claimed humans to serve them in their bright realms millennia ago. For as long as there has been war, the winner has often claimed the loser's people and labor as the spoils of their victory. Freedom has also not always been the rule within many societies, as great lords of whichever land have found ways to restrict the movements of their subjects.

In modern times, slavery persists, but the institution has been in a gradual retreat. Rarely does war end with the enslavement of an entire conquered population, and few conquerors would wish to do so today. Slavery has been made illegal in some realms, such as the Runberi princedoms and most Khelish realms, though it persists underground. In Palatina, slavery remains an accepted feature of society even though the proportion of the realm's people held in bondage has been gradually trending downwards as not all descendants of slaves are themselves slaves, and with few new slaves arriving. In the Tescaries, the Condominium has instituted slavery in apparent contravention to Runberi laws, though they argue that in fact the forced labor they employ in the sulfur pits are people convicted of crimes and they are not slaves, but convicts.

Other forms of unfreedom exist, with peasants being unable to leave their lord's lands in some places. However, these impositions tend to be more limited in nature than simply owning another as property.

Public View

Today, many people view most forms of slavery as an antiquated barbarism, and where it persists there is usually some kind of fig leaf to justify it. The world has seen fewer wars of total domination in recent centuries, and even when war occurs, it is more common to leave the existing social structure in place, and simply change who rules over it. Thus, as the institution has passed from the collective memory in many places, it is harder to accept.